If Things Were Different
by Silver Evenstar
Summary: What if Hitomi had met Folken first? Would the fate of Gaea and Van be different as well? Or will she find that not everything she's told is the truth. Hx? [Prologue]
1. Twisted

If Things Were Different

By: Cyber Harpy

Rating: PG-13 

A/N: Another Escaflowne I know. I haven't finished my last one, but I'll be getting to that soon enough. I had an idea for a new story, based of the movie a little bit, but this'll be based off the anime series.

Prologue: Twisted 

_How did I end up **here?** I don't even remember…_Hitomi groaned and sat up. Immediately her head was spinning and pounding, but not enough to the point where her eyes could catch the EARTH hanging in the sky. Her jaw dropped and she stood up quickly. Maybe a little too quickly for her own good. _Oh my head…_ She shifted a little on her legs. _What happened? What was… that blue light. It brought me here, but… where is here?_

- " Hitomi… good luck!" Yukari screamed as she turned on the field lights. She smirked a little and waved to her friend, locking her eyes straight ahead of her on her target, Amano. She could hardly believe that he agreed to give her the first kiss she'd ever receive. She blushed just at the thought.

"Ready… go!" Amano shouted. As though her mind was already running, she was off the blocks and dashing across the black fault. She kept her eyes on him, watching his mouth count the seconds off in time with her mind. She barely noticed that she zoomed past him, nearly falling face first at her sudden stop. She had lost count… had she?

Amano put a hand on her shoulder, holding out her pendant. She smiled at him and took it, staring up at him nervously.

" Twelve seconds… you did it." She heard Yukari give a squeal in the distance, which only caused her blush to continue to grow. Amano smiled softly down at her, leaning down towards her to give her the kiss he so promised to give her. A kiss that was never received… he stopped and looked down at her pendant, which had completely changed colors to a blue. Hitomi backed up a little, only to hear a crashing of thunder and the light completely enveloping her.

She vaguely recalled hearing Amano and Yukari screaming for her, right before she passed out. –

_So basically this is me being… screwed. I can see it now… I don't have anywhere to go; hell I don't even know where I **am!**_ She sighed and let her shoulders sag a little. After a moment she heard a rustling noise behind her. She let out a squeak and whirled to face it, meeting a very tall man in front of her. She gapped at him. He was a good maybe… six foot five. His eyes and hair color matched perfectly, a light purple. Beneath his right eye looked to be a tattoo of a teardrop. What caught her attention most was his right arm. It was… mechanical. She took a few steps back from him, backing straight into another man, more her age.

He had white hair, and red eyes that seemed to lust for something… death. He however, was covered in what looked like to be armor. She squeaked and looked between the two men. The taller one motioned the boy off. He gave a deadly smirk and took off for the bushes. He held out his good hand after a moment, motioning her to come closer.

" I will not hurt you. My name is Folken… Folken Fanel. You came from the Mystic Moon did you not?" He pointed towards Earth. For the moment, Hitomi could not speak; she simply nodded her head towards him, staring at him in fear. Folken shook his head and gently grabbed her hand.

" You are not safe here. Dragons roam the land… come." At the thought of dragons… real dragons, she could have sworn she was still asleep. Maybe passed out on the black fault with Amano and Yukari still calling her to wake up. But with Folken pulling her along, it became quite clear that it was not a dream.

" Not only dragons, but we are at war. The people of this world seemed to fail to notice that their kings have failed them. Zaibach only wishes to remove these… kings and help the people lead forward." He seemed to be explaining something she could not comprehend quite yet and left it off as that. 

_Kings? They still have kings?_ She blinked innocently, staring up at Folken. Everything within her mind just seemed to overpower her. She hardly noticed they approached what looked like to be a horse. Tilting her head a little, she looked back a Folken. He seemed confused with her actions and motioned towards the horse.

" I've… never ridden before…" That seemed to startle him. He moved past her, heaving himself onto the horse before wrapping his metal arm around her waist gently and lifted her into his lap. She stared at him blankly a moment before feeling the weight of the world crashing down on her. She passed out and fell against his chest.

~*~

Hitomi groaned and rolled over, which unfortunately caused her to roll off the bed she had been placed on. She whimpered and rubbed the back of her neck as she sat up on her knees. Flooding images of before she passed out made her groan aloud. Maybe it was a dream… her hopes were shattered almost instantly though. Her eyes scanned the room, which looked as though it was made for science. 

_It's that man… Folken?_ She tilted her head a little as he turned to face her. Standing up he made his way over to her, offering her a hand up. After a moment, she took his hand and stood up with his help. She felt weak… drained. 

" Traveling between worlds may make you a little weak. You'll be better in no time." She did not blink, wondering how he knew, but his face nor his eyes didn't give off any hints. She sighed softly and stood up slowly, sitting back down onto the bed.

" I think it'd be best if I told you what is going on here, before you could get yourself far more injured than just being tired. Do you remember what I told you before?" Hitomi tilted her head, nibbling gently on her bottom lip. _They're at war… because…_ She nodded and looked up at him. Folken nodded sullenly and sat back down to his chair, his back to her.

" The kingdoms of Asturia, Anano, Selvin,… Fanelia…" She blankly noted the last name to the last kingdom. Gathering her strength to speak, she spoke softly. " Are you… the king of Fanelia?" Folken let out a harsh laugh that seemed to contradict the calm personality he had shown her so far. It made her flinch. He didn't answer her either. After a few minutes he went silent before he continued on.

" Emperor Dunkirk has been leading the charge against the resistant kings for about… three moons. If I remember some of my teachings by him… that would be about three months on your world." She seemed shocked by the fact that he knew such things of her world. He let out another laugh, softer. 

" He comes from your world… Isaac Newton was his name I believe…" Her jaw dropped. _The Isaac Newton!? _ She didn't realize that she had said it aloud. Folken laughed softly again. 

" Yes… I see he is quite famous from your world. I think he will be pleased to know that he was remembered." Hitomi blinked and tilted her head. _I guess I shouldn't be all that surprised. This world is just… a complete 180 from mine. Things are probably more possible here._

" You'll have to excuse the fact that I had a maid change you. With those clothing you wore before, you were bound to attract more attention than needed." Hitomi hadn't realized until he mentioned it, that she had been changed. She put her hands to her body, looking down at the attire she now wore. A light pink top that was like a turtleneck, except it had no sleeves, where the top stopped, a short white skirt began that she nearly wished was just an inch or two longer. _I guess it will have to do… but why?_

Again, she must have asked the question without realizing it, and Folken turned to face her. He pointed at her pendant still hanging around her neck.

" You are a seeress are you not?" She gaped at him softly, and he just continued his explanation.

" There is no doubt that the side with the seer is the side that is most powerful. I will not lie to you, we wish you to join us and help Gaea." She seemed a little to shocked again to answer him and he sighed, shaking his head.

" If you don't help us… I'm afraid we will have to kill you. If you were to fall into the hands of the enemy, everything we have worked for could be destroyed." That seemed to get a rouse out of her. She stared horrified at him. He shook his head gently though.

" You don't have to do much. Chances are, you will see the outcome of a battle before it happens. All we wish is that you give us as much detail as you possibly can. You can do that can you not?" She shivered a little, pulling the blanket from the bed and wrapped it around her. She nodded stiffly, looking out the window next to the bed. _I have no choice…_Folken stood and headed towards the door.

" In the end though, we shall help you return home. That is my promise to you." She turned to look at him, but he already left the room. Hitomi sighed and put her elbows on the sill, and let her chin rest in her palms. _I can do this… for everyone I left._

~*~

Hitomi rolled over in the bed, fast asleep but not unbothered by dreams. She was used to her dreams being visions, as much as she wished they'd leave her be.

- The blood was horrifying… disgusting. So many guymelfs… all looking the same and smashing each other in, the pilots of them screaming in pain and anguish from both sides. None of the soldiers on the ground could see her. They never could, this event was yet to happen. She tried to memorize the battle plan of the side, which Folken had pointed out to be the enemy. He had fed her and taken her to the 'docks' to see the weapons that they used to fight with. Amazingly advanced for a world still controlled by kings.

Sudden the battle stopped. The 'rebels' had won. She frowned softly, shaking her head. She'd have to tell Folken of this soon. As she was prepared to pull herself from the vision, she saw something that was a little more than surprising. A large white guymelfs that stood in the front lines, sword drawn and still had a soft mist coming off it from the energists.–

She gasped as Folken gently shook her awake. He stared down intently as she caught her breath.

" You stopped breathing." She blinked a few times, letting her eyes adjust to the light a moment. She frowned after a moment and shook her head clear. Sitting up, she rubbed her temples softly and let her bare feet touch the floor.

" Sometimes that happens when I have a vision, it's nothing to worry about. I have to tell you though… the next battle will not be yours if you do not attack from the right instead." Folken seemed a little shocked. She already had a vision of a battle, and was willingly telling him of the details. He put a hand on her shoulder to help her relax.

" Calm… you'll have to tell me in more detail later. I wasn't expecting this, but… you've been given to Dilandau." She blinked before letting out a groan. The deadly staring boy she had seen with Folken.

" Don't worry. You just have to stay with him. You'll go with him to battles. Basically you'll tell him your visions and what needs to be changed if any at all." She sighed and nodded. Things weren't going to turn out so well… she could tell.


	2. Kidnapped or Saved

If Things Were Different

By: Cyber Harpy

Rating: PG-13 

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except characters I myself add!!!!!

A/N: Each rating at the top is for the chapter itself. Another note, they're going to be older than they were in the series.

Chapter 1: Kidnapped Or Saved

Hitomi wasn't looking forward to the move to Dilandau's room. She had only met him, and that meeting hadn't even been for more than five minutes. The look of craving death was too powerful for her own good. Frowning softly, she rubbed the back of her neck softly as she padded down the hall following Folken's directions. _Why am I cursed with this? What did I do to deserve any of this?_ She stopped in front of the accounted door to her roommate's room. She knocked softly, standing there for a moment before she tested the door.

It opened silently, so she pushed it further open. In front of her, she saw the same silver haired boy, shirtless and sparing with another man with heavy armor. She watched intently a moment before Dilandau let out a hiss and expertly threw his sword at her. She let out a squeak and ducked, even though the sword landed directly to the left of her, embedded in the wall. He let out a snort, ordering the man out and followed him to the door. 

She slowly let herself look up at him, almost flinching as her eyes met his. He seemed to sense her fear of him and took control of that situation immediately. In one strong tug, the sword was removed from the wall and returned to the saber at his waist. That same hand snaked down around her upper arm, tugging her to stand in front of him. His smirk was permanent on his face as he observed her as though she was a horse or something. Nodding after a moment, he pulled her quickly into the room and slammed the door with his foot.

He pushed her onto the bed, holding her wrists above her head as he leaned over her. _Oh this is **not **my day… someone please help me!_ It was though her prayers were answered. Over what seemed to be an intercom of sorts, an alarm went off. Dilandau cursed and released her, trudging over to his shirt and pulled it on, followed by his armor. During that time, Hitomi rubbed her wrists softly, biting her bottom lip to keep herself from crying. No one had ever treated her like that before… it scared her down to the bottom of her soul.

After a moment, she found Dilandau's hands about her wrists again, pulling her up from the bed. She gasped as he threw open his door and practically dragged her down the hall, to what she remembered was the docks for the guymelfs. She let out a groan, she knew that battle was soon, but hadn't figured this soon, she had barely been here for twenty-four hours.

As she expected, he turned into the docks, loads of men piling into their own guymelfs and prepared to take off. _So many of them will die…I wonder why they accept their fate to this. Do they really have to fight?_ She was yanked out of her daze by being pushed into a ladder. She would have let out a growl of annoyance if Dilandau hadn't done so himself.

"Get up there. _Now._" She groaned inwardly and climbed the ladder as quickly as she could, knowing that he was following her. The red guymelf she was climbing into was rather large, making easy room for her to fit in behind him. Seeing out to the battlefield though, that was going to be tough. She'd have to use her drowsing ability to let her see outside to understand everything correctly. She slid past the seat into the back, watching Dilandau sit.

" Listen up wench… if you make any sounds at all, I won't be afraid to kill you. You're only to tell me what happens during the battle. I don't want to hear your voice any other time, got me!?" Hitomi could barely nod at him, nibbling gently on her bottom lip. As the guymelf jerked to life, she let out a gasp and nearly fell forwards into the seat in front of her. Dilandau let out a growl, and she had to put her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming aloud.

~*~

The battlefield was exactly how she saw it in her dreams. Blood, gore, screams of terror. It pained her heart to see such things happening. Innocent people screaming to get away as both armies collided with each other. She had the strongest temptation to cover her ears and close her eyes to block out the laugh that Dilandau had. She had a very hard time believe he was just here for the freedom of the kingdoms.

But she had no choice; she had to direct him and his armies to a victory. At least she hopped. She had forgotten to tell Folken that just because you can try to change a battle, doesn't mean that it'll happen for sure. She got the impression though that he understood that concept anyways. _I hate this. I don't know why I am here. If this is all I am worth then…_  She didn't get a chance to finish, she heard something muffled from the speaker on the board and Dilandau whirled from his seat to face her, eyes blaring with anger. Before she could back away, he punched her in the stomach and tossed her so hard the back of her head nearly snapped forward from the force.

Before she passed out, she got the idea that her plan was not as successful as she had hoped. The Emperor's army had lost. But before she passed out, she could have sworn she caught a glimpse of a pure white suit, standing in the mist of its' sword.

~*~

" My lady… please, open your eyes." _Is that? Folken's voice? So Dilandau didn't kill me… yet._ Hitomi groaned painfully and sat up. Her green eyes met Folken's light purple. That caused another groan. Part of her wanted to die. So many people died on both sides, and the fact she could hardly see in the first place from the hits made her head pound as though someone inside wanted out. She spotted Dilandau not far behind Folken, still ready to kill her.

" You mustn't be so hard on her Dilandau, she sees the future but it doesn't always mean she can change it. The battle was going according to her vision." Dilandau snorted and broke the glass of what she assumed to be wine.

" It's not **_just_** that we lost… we lost because **_he_** was there." Hitomi blinked as Folken stiffened. Shaking his head softly, he dismissed him. He followed Dilandau out and returned with a bowl of water and a towel. He sat next to her, sighing softly. 

" Please excuse him, I doubt that he will do such a thing in the future." She wanted to cry out about what had happened earlier on the bed, but kept her mouth shut. Folken pressed the towel to her temple, causing a whimper to emerge from her throat. She didn't realize she had been bleeding. _Probably **him**…_ She muttered in the back of her mind, as he had mentioned a 'he'. She blinked a moment.

" Folken… who was he talking about?" Folken stiffened next to her, putting the towel into the bowl. This time, she was more persistent. She turned to face him, staring at him intently. He sighed after a moment before standing up.

" I'm sure you saw the white guymelf. That's the king of Fanelia. He's… He gave Dilandau his scar. Ever since then, he's been in every battle that Dilandau appears, tempting him to try to kill him. He's dangerous. He'll kill you before you even get the chance to blink." Hitomi looked vividly appalled. That guymelf was so beautiful, but could a person really be that evil?

Folken led her back to Dilandau's room, assuring her that it would be quite awhile before he returned to his room, and would most likely fall asleep without bothering her. She prayed deep down that it was true. When she entered the room. She flopped herself down onto the bed.

~*~ 

Hitomi could count off each battle she saw in her mind. Eleven so far, giving a week or so each battle to let her relax. She had really lost count of the days though. She had been there for a few months according to Folken, but time to her just seemed to drag. Her energy always felt drained; maybe for the most part she got very little sleep. Between the battles and the assaults given to her by Dilandau, she could barely concentrate on getting dressed.

Another battle was supposed to roll on today. She groaned inwardly as Dilandau charged out of the bathroom, grabbing her bruised arm. He always seemed to grab her in the same place. A week was not long enough for them to heal. She flinched and kept up with him, scrambling up the ladder in the dock room to the recently repaired red guymelf.

" **_He's_** going to be here, I can feel it. Keep your mouth shut." She didn't know why she had come along for this battle; she hadn't had a vision of this battle. Dilandau wasn't in a mood for questions either. She huddled herself into the back of the guymelf instead.

She knew he was an expert fighter, but if he cursed aloud something was wrong. And she was right, almost directly afterwards; she could see flashes of white. _The king!_ She froze and watched Dilandau trying to throw his attacker. Unfortunately it wasn't going to well. She wasn't sure if it was a few minutes or hours that they had been fighting, what she did notice was the sudden jerking motion and a hiss, which scared her to her soul. The energist had exploded. She had seen it on the battlefield before. The guymelf would become useless, unmovable.

She wasn't sure what happened next. The guymelf opened and she saw Dilandau glaring at her, before reaching for her. He never did make it. The 'melf leaned forward too quickly to react; she was thrown forward, not before her shoulder connected with the side of the cockpit seat. She let out a cry of pain as she fell for what felt forever.

She didn't even remember hitting the ground. The pain in her shoulder blinded her. The fact that Dilandau hadn't come to pick her up yet, if he was even alive, made the ability to even get up impossible. She heard voices though. Ones she didn't recognize. The fact she couldn't see made it worse, so she rocked a little on the ground, holding her shoulder, close to sobbing in fear and pain. _I'm doomed._

" So the rumors were true… Dilandau does have someone with him. But I thought he had a seer, not a woman." Hitomi almost wanted to cry out that she was the seer, to let her go. She was innocent… though not _completely_ forced to serve under Dornkirk. _What they do to their people… it's just wrong!_ She kept her eyes closed tightly.

" I heard that the seer _was_ a woman. I'll be willing to guess that she's that person. Seeing the battles and telling him how to change them. They've predicted too much not to have one." This was a woman's voice. Hitomi had to bite her bottom lip to keep herself from crying. The pain in shoulder was mounting faster than she had ever felt before.

" So let's kill her. We don't have to cheat to win. We were winning this war before; we can still do it now. Let's take away their only chance to survive." The same male voice, she heard a slap of an arm.

" I didn't know you had it in you to kill women, Allen-"

" No… she's not a woman, she's a monster." Hitomi flinched, causing her shoulder to reek pain through her mind and body. She hid her face and let the tears fall. 

" We don't need to kill her." A different voice, for sure a male. Hard with battles, yet soft… she heard him kneel in front of her. She lifted her head a bit, trying to open her eyes and sit up, but the pain in her shoulder caused her to cry out fall back down, sending more jolts of pain.

" Millerna, you take her and take care of her wounds. Afterwards Allen you put her in the dungeon. We'll get to her later. As long as she isn't with them, she can't help them." That was all Hitomi could remember as she passed out finally from the pain.

~*~

Hitomi groaned softly. Her dreams kept her updated on what battles happened. Two battles, two victory wins to Zaibach. She had a feeling that if this kept up, she really wasn't going to survive. Opening her eyes slowly, she expected a gloomy dank place that smelled rotten. Her eyes met light, causing her flinch a little. Sitting up slowly, she could feel a small twinge of pain in her right shoulder, the one she had injured. Beneath her, was a bed, completely soft unlike the beds in Zaibach fortresses. The fact that she was naked was also drawn to her attention. 

She held the blanket to her, staring at window. Dark clouds rolled in the sky, a few flashes of thunder. _My luck to open my eyes, just as thunder would flash._ She frowned a little. She was hoping for bright skies at least.

" Looks as though someone is finally awake." She let out a squeak and turned her face towards the door. That voice… the one who wanted to kill her. He had blonde hair with blue eyes, that was rather stunning. She stared at him in fright. He merely smiled at her. Clutching her blanket closer to her as he approached didn't make her feel any better.

" I can now take you down to the dungeon. What a pity, it's rather cold down there and you have no clothing." Eyes widened a little as he grabbed her wrists. At that moment, as she went to scream, she realized her voice didn't work. She couldn't get a sound out of her. He seemed to notice this, easily pulling the blanket from her hands. It wasn't hard with one arm almost completely useless to her. She flinched as he let her wrists go.

" Allen…" The voice was rough… threatening. Her eyes opened slowly, before she scrambled to cover herself. Allen let out a growl, making her flinch. _Since when am I so weak… oh yeah, ever since I got here. I'm… always afraid._ She watched the blonde get up and leave the room, leaving her alone with a boy her age. She stared at him. His voice was familiar too.

He was rather handsome for his age. Black hair with soft ruby eyes… which seemed to hold their own threats within. His arms were crossed over a loose red shirt with tight tan pants. He made his way towards her, keeping his eyes on her. She pressed herself away from him as he sat down on the bed next to her. Finally, he reached out towards her still bruised arm. That act in itself caused her to let out a cry and flinch away from him, causing her to twist and fall out of the bed onto her bad shoulder.

The fact that he hadn't even touched her yet had startled him greatly, but he stood as she fell off the bed with a sharp cry. He sighed softly, leaning down a little. She wasn't covered anymore, but it wasn't the first time he had seen her naked. He gently put his hands under her knees and arms, lifting her up from the floor.

" Relax. I'm not going to hurt you. You've had a fever for a while now, and I'm guessing your shoulder is worse than we thought. We've been taking care of you in shifts." Hitomi stared at him blankly. The fact that she was naked was pretty much stripped from her mind. She opened her mouth, and still no words came from her. The scene turned eerie too, as a flash of thunder seemed to release the flood gates of the heavens. The wind kicked up and pressed the rain to pound against the window hard. 

The boy laid her back on the bed, straightening the blanket back over her.

" My name is Van. It's nice to meet you."

~*~*~

Sorry if this chapter seemed a little rushed, the next one should be longer and a little more slow to make sense. Plus… for future reference… Allen isn't going to be liked much. Get used to it or please don't read. R&R!


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